Co-founder and CEO Michael Carvin has said that SmartAsset emerged from his own experience buying a home. When he looked for help online, all he could find was general advice and simplistic financial calculators. SmartAsset tries to go deeper, taking your basic financial information and offering insight like how much money you can afford to borrow and put down, as well as the long-term cost of renting versus buying. The company’s calculations are tailored to a specific location, so it can also tell you about the tax implications of a home purchase.

Moving forward, Carvin wants to turn SmartAsset into a broader financial tool that users turn to for a number of difficult financial decisions. Over the next three months, the company plans to add new features to its home buying guide, then Carvin said it will launch similar tools for college and further education.

SmartAsset isn’t disclosing its current user numbers, but last month, it said it had more than 20,000. And again, these are people who are at least considering a home purchase, so they’re much more valuable to advertisers than a random web visitor.

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OverviewSmartAsset makes life's biggest decisions easier by bringing transparency to the financial decision making process. It's the Web's first personal finance platform designed to empower people with highly personalized information and recommendations around major financial decisions. SmartAsset's platform currently offers analytics and advice across home buying, refinance, retirement, life insurance, taxes, …